MUSIC: Singer-songwriter gets ready to soar

Bonnie Bishop gaining traction after years in music industry

Contributed photo
Bonnie Bishop will perform at San Angelo’s House of FiFi Dubois next week.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - What: An Intimate Evening with Bonnie Bishop

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: House of FiFi DuBois, 123 S. Chadbourne St.

Cost: $10

Contact: 325-658-3434

She may not be a household name, but chances are you've heard Bonnie Bishop's work in the recordings of her music industry peers.

On Thursday, Bishop will be at the House of FiFi DuBois in San Angelo to showcase her singing, songwriting and storytelling talents in person.

It's been a long road for Bishop to break out on her own. She started out in Austin, performing Americana and Texas music.

A chance to move to Nashville led her to change her approach to making music.

"I made the choice to focus on songwriting when I moved to Nashville." Bishop said in a telephone interview from a cab in Washington, D.C., this week. "It's always been my dream to be an artist. Songwriting, I feel, opened that door for me."

The road has been rough, Bishop admits.

She said life on the road wasn't the glamorous trip she expected.

"I think there was a feeling of disappointment overall," she said. "You spend all of this time prepping, getting ready for a show, and then no one shows up. It's heartbreaking.

"The last 10 to 12 years have been hard, but I think its been character building. Until recently, I wasn't ready for success. It's been hard, but I needed to be humbled."

Her songs "The Best Songs Come from Broken Hearts" and "Free" stir emotion and have a personal feeling for even the casual listener.

"My whole thing has been to be increasingly honest and vulnerable in my work," Bishop said. "To write about real life situations. As a songwriter and an artist, that's the gift I have — is to be honest and emotional."

A tune Bishop co-wrote with Al Anderson, "Not ‘Cause I Wanted To," was recorded by the legendary Bonnie Raitt.

The album on which it appears, "Slipstream," earned the 2013 Grammy Award for Americana Album of the Year.

In October, Bishop added television to her résumé when "The Best Songs Come from Broken Hearts" was featured on the ABC television series "Nashville."

Once Bishop decided to make the transition back to being an artist and writing music for herself, she said things moved fast.

She's touring, writing and working on a new album.

But she's taking it all in stride and enjoying the ride.

"I'm trying to take it all in and am living in the moment. I want to make sure I enjoy the journey."